Pages

Friday, 11 April 2014

Based on a 1929 novel and
inspired by real events, 1932’s Scarface
was one of a series of pre-code gangster pictures which shocked and enthralled
its viewers. Opening with a written disclaimer, damming the government for
their lack of action regarding the threat that modern gangsters pose, the film
nonetheless glamorises the life of crime while shaking a stick in its vague
direction. It follows the ascent of young arrogant Italian immigrant Tony
Camonte (Paul Muni) as he rises through the Chicago underworld by bumping off bosses and
rivals who stand in his way and intimidating speakeasy proprietors into taking
his booze. Aided by his right hand man, the quiet coin flicking Guino Rinaldo
(George Raft), Tony reaches the heights of underworld overlord but finds that
being at the top is even more dangerous than the climb to the summit.

Arriving two years before the
Hays Office began imposing much stricter censorship on Hollywood; Scarface was able to get away with a lot more than many films which
followed it. Inside its ninety minutes you’ll find brutal murders, gunplay and
revealing costumes worn by the female characters, things which just wouldn’t be
permissible from 1934 onwards. Even still, the film troubled the censors and
the ending was changed to suit their tastes. Overall the movie contains a
‘crime doesn’t pay’ theme, something which you expect from the opening credits
disclaimer but it’s slow in coming. For the most part, the theme appears to be
‘crime gets you everything you want’ and it’s this which the censors must have
taken issue with. The glorification of the central character is also something
which the Hays Office was unhappy with. This is something which film makers and
censors would lock horns over for the next forty years.

Wednesday, 9 April 2014

1947’s Out of the Past is widely considered to be one of the greatest
examples of 1940s film noir. Set around a convoluted plot, the film twists and
turns through double, triple and quadruple crosses, landing surprise blows on
its dumbstruck and occasionally confused audience. Based on the novel Build My Gallows High and originally
released in the UK
under the same title, the picture stars Robert Mitchum as freelance Private
Detective Jeff Bailey. He’s hired by rich and shady businessman Whit Sterling
(Kirk Douglas) to track down a dame, Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) who Stirling alleges has disappeared with $40,000 of his
money. Told partly in flashback and with a voiceover to match that of Sunset Boulevard’s, the film twists and
turns like a twisty-turny thing, through several cities, two nations and a
long, albeit undisclosed, period of time.

It took me a little while to get
into Out of the Past but when I did,
I enjoyed it greatly. Unfortunately my patience wore off towards the end thanks
to the elaborate nature of the narrative. This isn’t a film I’d suggest
watching after a long day at the office and a couple of martinis inside your
stomach. Although a large part of the movie’s charm is its strong story, the
frequent double crossing did begin to confuse me as we crossed the hour mark.
This isn’t entirely a bad thing however as half the fun is in guessing who has
the upper hand and who will strike next.

Sunday, 6 April 2014

Predating the more famous Godzilla by a year and being a major
influence on that movie, The Beast from
20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 creature feature that is home to a series of
firsts. It was the first movie in history to feature a monster awakened by a
nuclear blast and also contains Ray Harryhausen’s first solo special effects
work. It spawned a plethora of imitations and ushered the dawn of a golden age
for monster movies.

The plot sets a pattern which
will sound familiar to anyone who’s seen a creature feature before. Deep inside
the Arctic Circle, a team of scientists and
military personnel are carrying out a nuclear test. While out collecting
samples soon after, physicist Thomas Nesbitt (Paul Christian) is shocked to eye
a giant beast, lurking in the icy gloom. Back in New York
City no one believes the young scientist but when strange tales
come down the Atlantic seaboard towards Gotham,
others begin to treat Nesbitt’s claims seriously. Unfortunately they’re too
late and the beast makes devastating landfall in the city itself.

Captain America (Chris
Evans) returns in his second solo outing to sniff out the rotten core at the
heart of S.H.I.E.L.D. When an attempt is made on the life of a senior
S.H.I.E.L.D executive, Captain Steve Rodgers finds himself on the outside of a
conspiracy and on the run. With the help of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
and newcomer to the series, Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Cap’ must hunt down those
who have sworn to protect and comes across a figure from his past in the
process.

When the first Captain America movie came out in 2011,
I expected it to be the Marvel film that I’d enjoy most. I’m a lover of history
and am fascinated by the 1940s, especially the Second World War. It was
surprising then that I enjoyed it far less than any other of the Marvel films
to that date. I’m glad to say that Winter
Soldier is an improvement on the original but still lags some way behind
the likes of Thorand Iron Man for me.

I’ll start with what I enjoyed
about the movie as that will take less time. I think that the themes are strong
and well realised. By turning S.H.I.E.L.D, or at least elements of it, into the
bad guys, the film holds a mirror up to the intelligence community. After years
of reports about NSA bugs, CIA phone tapping and MI5 interference, the writers
pick up a strong idea and run with it. By putting those who are meant to
protect us under the spotlight, we get a glimpse into a shady and easily
corruptible world. The positioning of S.H.I.E.L.D’s headquarters, high above
the Washington
skyline, is also a strong visual metaphor. The movie asks us, who is really in
charge? What are their powers and if they’re watching us, who’s watching them?